During my studies for the BTh(honors) degree, the Missiology module, I had to answer a question from the prescribed text book for this module. The question was:
Give examples of the contextualization of the gospel from Christian history and outline the
principles underlying them. Give your own evaluation of them.
I answered the question as follows and believe it contains some valuable information and wisdom which every Christian needs to consider when thinking about Christmas.
When St. Augustine of Canterbury and forty other monks
ministered to the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from 597AD onwards, he became troubled
about the pagan customs that were being brought into the church. He wrote a
letter to the Pope, who sent them on the mission, who then replied with sound
advice. Concerning the pagan temples containing all their idols, he said that
the well built temples needn’t be destroyed but only cleansed of the idols, and then adapted to be used for worship
services. The “principle of
adaptation in relation to cultural forms” underlies this example. I agree
with Pope Gregory’s advice. God, unlike us, does not look through cultural glasses when we worship Him. He is not
concerned about objects we use as part of our worship culture, and He is not
offended when we use or consume things that were formerly dedicated to idols,
as long as our worship is directed towards God alone. As long as the things we
use are not sources of the contamination of our souls, they are permissible.
God is Spirit and we worship Him in
spirit and in truth.
The question that the early church posed to Paul about
whether or not it was permitted to eat meat that was sacrificed to idols comes
to mind. Paul pointed out that in essence, it was not wrong to eat meat that
was sacrificed to idols, because in the New Testament period we are permitted
to eat anything. By eating the meat, the person doesn’t declare that he
worships the idol to which the meat was offered. He only wants to fill his
stomach. Only if the act of eating meat would offend somebody, then it would be
wrong to eat the meat, for the sake of the immature faith of that offended
person.
The other problem that St. Augustine also had with the Saxon
people was their custom to sacrifice oxen to the devil. Pope Gregory’s advice
was to not prohibit this act altogether, but to appoint a Christian festival
where the slaying of oxen would be allowed in honour of God, the One who
provides their sustenance, and then to eat the slain animals while giving
thanks to God for his provision. This example is underlain by the “principle of exchange in relation to pagan
practices”. An example comes to mind, given by Dr. Sugden in the lectures
related to this module. The decoration of the Christmas tree and the
celebration of Christmas is not something which originates from Scripture, but possibly
from a pagan festival. However, some Christians decided to transform the pagan
festival into a Christian celebration of the birth of Christ and even use the
same symbols. Christmas has become the most well known Christian celebration known
to unbelievers, even celebrated by unbelievers, and is used by believers to
proclaim the coming of our Messiah into the world. A pagan festival has become
an opportunity to preach the gospel to a lost world. God does not harbour petty
offences about trivial matters, but allows us to use any means to proclaim the
gospel message. In the case of the Saxons’ slaying of oxen, the exchange allows
for an opportunity to create a culture of thanksgiving towards God. As Paul
testified, we should also become all things to all men in order to win some.
The Pope in essence said to St. Augustine that the
transformation of the Saxon community would take time and allowing them time to
adapt to Biblical ways are the best route to take. The “principle of gradual transformation” applies here. This is the way
most Christians experience growth. The process of cleansing (sanctification) by
the washing of the Word (renewal of the mind) is often slow, depending on the
amount of time the new believer dedicates to the Word and the degree to which
the new believer yields to the work of the Holy Spirit to cleanse and transform
the person into the image of Christ.
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